Grime Fighter?

[bob3160]

I hope you now got all of that off your chest and your now feeling better.
I personally never see grimefighter. Apparently my system isn't compatible with some part of that program.
I also wouldn't use it since it's designed to help the person who knows very little about a computer and
wants a program that will do all the work without any input from the user.

[hrdubwd]

<sigh> Bizarre!  </sigh>

[Sodit]

 Unfortunately not bizarre hrdubwd, just very predictable!

I came looking for something on this topic, and it warranted registering. I have sworn by Avast as a 'protecting' system for a few years now after difficulties with other popular systems.

I should also say that out of 10, my computer experience (like the majority of global users) is around the 6 mark. I might be in my Autumn (Fall) years, but idiocy doesn't come with it. I am capable therefore of recognizing the increasing need for those who set these systems up, to 'value add' (note the novice terminology), various bits and pieces to show how adept they are. I suspect they care little how increasingly frustrated their loyal users become as a result.

I loved Avast. It looked after me well. Now it continually harasses me with advice that critical updates are necessary and there is the dreaded grime on my system. I knew that this had to be a non free 'service', but what I didn't know was how in the hell I now have to put up with this incessant technoharassment.

I was too busy trying to ensure that if I wanted Chrome I would decide for myself thanks, and must have left something somewhere else ticked on this cr..stuff.

What compounds the frustration is that those with perhaps greater techknowledge then come in and patronize. I and others need that like a skin rash.

Perhaps some advice on how to rid myself of the 'Updater' and the hell fire and brimstone warning of the 'Grimefighter' would be handy?

[abruptum]

How to Uninstall GrimeFighter from Avast?

  http://techdows.com/2013/12/uninstall-avast-grimefighter.html

[hrdubwd]

I could not agree more to everything, esp. the patronizing.
Now I find that the Settings | Tools page is blank ... so I can do nothing now except uninstall.  Tedious.  I had long ago removed the update service (Secunia PSI is much better).
But if Grimefighter is a paid-service, why did it install and I have not been asked to pay?

In addition, I have had a long-running and entirely unsatisfactory discussion about scanning actions - I can see no evidence in the logs that it does what it claims - NOT one record ever of a skipped item, despite ticking that box in each case.  Not exactly efficient or - dare I say? - truthful.

How to alienate people and lose business?

[hrdubwd]

Abruptum: Thanks!  In hand ...

[CraigB]

All features including Software updater and Grimefighter can be unchecked during install via the custom install option or they can be removed at a later time via Programs and Features/Uninstall Programs and double click avast - then choose Change and untick any feature not wanted.

[Sodit]

Abruptum: thanks I'll tackle this promptly.

Craigb: thanks. Unfortunately the minefield installation process nowadays means that the uninitiated triumphantly detect and untick one box, and move merrily on!

It would be nice if one is given choice to add, but instead the 'choice' is to ensure that one carefully checks (unchecks!) that these 'helpful' little extra's have not slid under the radar.

hrdubwd: don't tell me your troubles,-I have troubles of my own! 

(....and if I can capture one part of the captcha without a microscope it will be a b miracle!)

[CraigB]

and if I can capture one part of the captcha without a microscope it will be a b miracle!)

Captcha is only for the first three posts - it's used to help slow down the spammers.

[crankyjellyfish]

according to my anti crime fighting law enforcement friend, this is a clever marketing tool used to fight grime!  Just say no, to grime and slime and all the stuff that you didn't know could go wrong, that has been clogging up and slowing everything down on your computer, that you are now aware of,  now that there is a tool that can fix things you didn't know that you needed, to make your PC faster instead of slower because of the anti-everything running on Windows that created a need for this tool to fight the grime that these other tools by avast  are cause to begin with.

Hope that clears things up

Avast is awesome but i am not sure which keeps me up at night most - the constant OS threats or the cure for them.  I barely have time to actually do anything else with my computer, except try and protect it.  its literally a full time job!

[crankyjellyfish]

I did a search for "what is grimefighter" and the first result on Google was this:

grimefighter
Web definitions
Grimefighters is a British television series on ITV which follows the life of people with particularly dirty jobs: including working in a sewer, being a binman and hygiene inspectors. The series predominantly focuses on cleaners working in the areas of Wolverhampton and Barking and Dagenham. ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimefighters

Sorry about my prior post - I went back to try and edit it, but it took me forever to try and get the captcha right, and finally I abandoned my attempts. 

In a nutshell, the marketing page refers to this tool as alleviating the frustration with your PC, but I am more frustrated than ever. But the cute little japanese anime characters that avast has given to the little tool features made me laugh.  And trying to post here has made me cry. 

Thanks Windows, for making life so much more frustrating!

[nemanja00]

Soo can someone give a download link for avast grimefighter license???

[CraigB]

Soo can someone give a download link for avast grimefighter license???

Grimefighter information is here http://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB120#idt_01

[ssttrr]

I too did not have the option to custom install; GrimeFighter came in a push update to Avast.

As to having to pay for it:  If you click as if you are going to do a scan (Avast UI > Tools > Grimefighter > Optimize My PC (yes, it's scary because you don't know if there's another confirmation layer or if the darn thing just starts)) it takes you to the UI's Store tab to buy a subscription before it will optimize.  After you're subscribed clicking "Optimize My PC" may in fact begin actions without further confirmation.

Below is a paste of my 2014-02-08 submission to avast! Customer & Technical Support at "support.avast.com."  I will post an update when they reply.

At this point I have already run the unistaller to remove the GrimeFighter component.
------------------------------
Dear Avast!,

I checked FAQ and Forum and found no answer to my question:  How can I see a detailed list of changes GrimeFighter proposes to make to my computer?  For example,  I would like a list of the registry items GrimeFighter proposes to alter, a list of start up entries it proposes to halt, or a list of SW it deems bloatware.  It looks like a great product, but without this info I will not accept proposed changes that are bucketed by general listing like Reg Edit, File Clean up, Bloatware, etc.  I am used to CCleaner, where there is a reg backup and a list of proposed changes.  GrimeFighter's Start up and Bloatware features are the vectors of differentiation I am most interested in.  This forum discusses but does not answer my concern: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=143373.0.  Undo last scan, as posed in "http://www.avast.com/en-eu/faq.php?article=AVKB117#artTitle," is insufficient and apparently only has a single level of roll back.  "http://www.avast.com/en-eu/faq.php?article=AVKB120#idt_03" for "Can I have details on what changes avast! GrimeFighter made?" basically says 'no, you can't have details, but you can have a summary.' "http://www.avast.com/en-eu/faq.php?article=AVKB118#idt_05" goes on to say "The Karma allotment for each category are a numerical representation of how much Grime the minions found and had to remove from your system. For now, this is the extent to which avast! GrimeFighter goes into details about changes made during your scan. " That info is insufficient and after the fact. Again, startup and bloatware mgmt are worth my paying a subscription, but not operating in the blind.  If you cannot give me pre-change visibility, please tell me how to turn off or uninstall GrimeFighter so that it stops slowing down my PC with scans I will never take advantage of.

Regards

[Haffoc]

For some reason my version if Internet Security 2014 refuses to show Grimefighter, I've checked tools and store, nothing, I've checked with installer and it claims it's installed.

I did email support about this, but they appear to have just ignored my email.

Scrape that, guess it's because I've got Nvidia gfx card, or Win 8.1.